ATM Associação de Investidores, a Portuguese investor industry association, has launched a petition to protest market data fees charged by stock exchanges, in an attempt to influence the European Commission’s MiFID 2 regulation for a fairer market for investors, brokers and small financial intermediaries.

The petition, which was filed on Jan. 6, calls for an end to “a story of unfairness” and “a history of immoral fees.” According to ATM Associacao de Investidores, stock exchanges operate as monopolies and should be forced by regulators to derive revenues from transaction fees rather than from selling market data feeds. In addition, exchanges are acting “immorally” by charging higher fees...